The Junior Comanches' coach Orlando "Doc" Gooden tells the local paper that many of the boys asked him about the protests in St. Louis related to the verdict in the trial of former police officer Jason Stockley. Stockley, who is white, was acquitted in the 2011 death of a black man who was fatally shot following a high-speed chase.

Gooden said after a discussion, the teammates, with their parents' approval, decided to organize the protest gesture.